By Arundhuti Banerjee

Mumbai, Aug 16 (IANS): National award-winning singer and song-writer Kailash Kher, who released his new song 'Yeh Hai Badalta Bharat, Naye Hauslon Ka Naya Bharat' to celebrate the achievements of the Tokyo Olympics medal winners, says parents must encourage their sons and daughters to pursue their passion, because "not all young people can become doctors or engineers".

Speaking with IANS, Kher said: "If we look at the story of Mirabai Chanu, who won a silver medal for India, we'll see that her journey started from zero. She used to go along with her mother and brother to the forest to collect wood and her mother noticed that she could carry more wood than her brother. That is how her mother discovered her natural talent in weightlifting. Mirabai went through so much training before finally making our nation proud.

"There must be so many Mirabais who must be waiting to be discovered and yet they remain unnoticed. Sports and arts are not seen as secure career paths, and parents especially are worried about the limited career span of sportspersons. But they must encourage their chidren to take up sports as a career. With my song, I hope to change the way they think." The song, written and sung by Kher, was released on the Damroo app.

Asked how youngsters could be encouraged to take up sports professionally instead of seeing them as hobbies, Kher pointed out the fundamental problem that many budding sports stars or artistes faced.

"You see, whether you are a singer or a sports star, corporate sponsors will run after you to sign you up as a brand ambassador once you become a star, once you win a medal," Kher said. "But it is tough to find sponsors to invest in training, food and everything else that a budding sportsperson requires. How can you then expect young people to pursue the arts or sports, especially if they do not come from well-to-do families? Yes, there is no guarantee that a child will win Olympic medals, or that every song she sings will be a superhit, but can you kill the dream?"

Kher mentioned "iconic artistes" such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, or our own Lataji. With their accomplishments, Kher said, they "put us on the global map". Similarly, in India today, he concluded, "Mirabai Chanu, P.V. Sindhu, Lovlina Borgohain, Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya, Neeraj Chopra, and the men's hockey team are the reasons why we feel proud to be Indians."